Medvedev hungry for a 'big title', to begin his chase in Montreal

pA lot of the attention during the 2024 season has gone to a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a. Sinner won his first major at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a and completed his ascent to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Alcaraz triumphed at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'Roland Garros/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a, and Djokovic just earned his maiden gold medal at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/paris/96/2024/results'Paris Olympics/a./p

pBut quietly, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniil-medvedev/mm58/overview'Daniil Medvedev/a has enjoyed a consistent season. The former World No. 1 is fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is now entering the part of the season that has historically been when he performs best. /p

pSeeded third at the Omnium Banque National preacute;senteacute; par Rogers, this yearrsquo;s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a finalist and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a semi-finalist will try to claim his first title of the year./p

pldquo;I think the thing always about my seasons is that a lot of times when I come to this stage, which is Canada, whatever happened before doesn't matter too much because that's really usually the best part of the season for me,rdquo; Medvedev told ATPTour.com. ldquo;So to be honest, I'm pretty happy with my season. I had some good results and good runs, some actually good wins. What I'm not happy [with] in a way is I don't have a title, but I'm playing [well at] the biggest tournaments and I lost to some great guys.rdquo;/p

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pIt is not that Medvedev has failed to advance deep into tournaments. The 28-year-old is 35-11 for the season according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index and reached finals in Melbourne and Indian Wells./p

pMedvedev will take confidence knowing that Montreal is where he advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final in 2019. That year, Medvedev enjoyed a memorable second half of his season, winning 29 of 32 matches. It started in Washington, where he made the final before sprinting to Canada./p

pldquo;You need to hustle, you need to pack. The next day you need to prepare the match already. I played a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/kyle-edmund/e831/overview'Kyle Edmund/a who at the time was playing very well and I knew that the first match was not going to be easy,rdquo; Medvedev said. ldquo;But straightaway I felt really, really well and managed to beat him with an easy score. Everything just stuck together and I managed to play pretty well.rdquo;/p

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pMedvedev did not lose a set en route to the final, defeating Edmund, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/cristian-garin/gd64/overview'Cristian Garin/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dominic-thiem/tb69/overview'Dominic Thiem/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/karen-khachanov/ke29/overview'Karen Khachanov/a. Only one of the eight sets he played against the quartet went past 6-3. His run ultimately came to an end in the title match against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rafael-nadal/n409/overview'Rafael Nadal/a, who triumphed 6-3, 6-0./p

pldquo;I played Rafa and unfortunately at the time it was way too much for me and way too strong,rdquo; Medvedev said. ldquo;I do remember every match was different in a way but I was playing great tennis and feeling great in my game and it was the first time I made it to the final of a Masters 1000, so it was a great boost of confidence.rdquo;/p

pWhen Medvedev arrived in Canada five years ago, he was the No. 9 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. By the end of that stretch, it was clear he was on his way to the top, and he sees that upon reflection./p

pldquo;One hundred per cent, because before this I knew I could play well, but I still never really made any huge result and that was the stretch where I made the first Masters 1000 final, won the next one in Cincinnati and made the final of a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a, which was amazing,rdquo; Medvedev said. ldquo;That was kind of the first tournament mdash; together with Washington, where I also played well mdash; where I started to know even more what I have to do on the court to beat guys on the top.rdquo;/p

pMedvedev is excited to be back in Montreal and on hard courts and begin his pursuit of a title. The third seed, who has a bye, will play doubles partner a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roman-safiullin/sx50/overview'Roman Safiullin/a or a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alejandro-davidovich-fokina/dh50/overview'Alejandro Davidovich Fokina/a in the second round. To the 20-time tour-level titlist, this is the beginning of his effort to finish the season on a high note./p

pldquo;Irsquo;m going to try to make it 'til the end of the year for sure, try to get a big title and try to get more points because it's always important,rdquo; Medvedev said. ldquo;The higher you finish in the end, the more it shows how great your season was. So I'm pretty happy with the season, but I definitely want more than that.rdquo;/p

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